In America today we are nearer a final triumph over poverty than in any land. The poorhouse has vanished from amongst us.
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) 31st American President
Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another.
—Madonna (b.1958) American Pop Singer, Actress
Whoever shuts his ears at the cry of the poor, they also shall cry themselves, but not be heard.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Empty pockets make empty heads.
—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) American Poet, Novelist, Cultural Historian
You lose your manners when you’re poor.
—Lillian Hellman (1905–84) American Playwright, Dramatist, Memoirist
When the rich wage war it is the poor who die.
—Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–80) French Philosopher, Playwright, Novelist, Screenwriter, Political Activist
I thank fate for having made me born poor. Poverty taught me the true value of the gifts useful to life.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
That the poor are invisible is one of the most important things about them. They are not simply neglected and forgotten as in the old rhetoric of reform; what is much worse, they are not seen.
—Michael Harrington (1928–89) American Socialist, Writer, Political Activist, Academic
Four specters haunt the Poor—Old Age, Accident, Sickness and Unemployment. We are going to exorcise them. We are going to drive hunger from the hearth. We mean to banish the workhouse from the horizon of every workman in the land.
—David Lloyd George (1863–1945) British Liberal Statesman
Poverty is the step-mother of genius.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
Who ever mocks the poor insults his maker; and he that is glad at calamities shall not go unpunished.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Look at me. I worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty.
—Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American Actor, Comedian, Singer
In going to America one learns that poverty is not a necessary accompaniment to civilization.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Poverty keeps together more homes than it breaks up.
—Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) (1870–1916) British Short Story Writer, Satirist, Historian
Poverty makes you sad as well as wise.
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German Poet, Playwright, Theater Personality
You don’t seem to realize that a poor person who is unhappy is in a better position than a rich person who is unhappy. Because the poor person has hope. He thinks money would help.
—Jean Kerr (1922–2003) Irish-American Author, Playwright
A poor man with nothing in his belly needs hope, illusion, more than bread.
—Georges Bernanos (1888–1948) French Author
Poverty in itself does not make men into a rabble; a rabble is created only when there is joined to poverty a disposition of mind, an inner indignation against the rich, against society, against the government.
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) German Philosopher
Painless poverty is better than embittered wealth.
—Greek Proverb
America is an enormous frosted cupcake in the middle of millions of starving people.
—Gloria Steinem (b.1934) American Feminist, Journalist, Social Activist, Political Activist
Poverty must have many satisfactions, else there would not be so many poor people.
—Don Herold (1889–1966) American Humorist, Writer, Illustrator, Cartoonist
A poor man is all schemes.
—Spanish Proverb
As for the virtuous poor, one can pity them, of course, but one cannot possibly admire them. They have made private terms with the enemy, and sold their birthright for very bad pottage. They must also be extraordinarily stupid.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
We are not concerned with the very poor. They are unthinkable, and only to be approached by the statistician or the poet.
—E. M. Forster (1879–1970) English Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist
A rich child often sits in a poor mother’s lap.
—Danish Proverb
I worked myself up from nothing to extreme poverty.
—Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American Actor, Comedian, Singer
You can’t get rid of poverty by giving people money.
—P. J. O’Rourke (1947–2022) American Journalist, Political Satirist
Do not ask the name of the person who seeks a bed for the night. He who is reluctant to give his name is the one who most needs shelter.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Poverty is uncomfortable, as I can testify: but nine times out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is to be tossed overboard and compelled to sink or swim for himself.
—James A. Garfield (1831–81) American Head of State, Lawyer, Educator
When poverty crosses the threshold love flies out the window.
—African Proverb
To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.
—W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) American Sociologist, Social Reformer
Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty: permit the distinctive sign of our order to be that it does not possess anything of its own beneath the sun, for the glory of your name, and that it have no other patrimony than begging.
—Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) Italian Monk, Founder of the Franciscan Order
To judge human character rightly, a man may sometimes have very small experience, provided he has a very large heart.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
A poor man would like to have some fun, but he cannot find the right place.
—Arabic Proverb
A man who has nothing can whistle in a robber’s face.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
What we have found in this country, and maybe we’re more aware of it now, is one problem that we’ve had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless, you might say, by choice.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
Oh, God! that bread should be so dear! And flesh and blood so cheap!
—Thomas Hood (1799–1845) English Poet, Humorist
One of the strangest things about life is that the poor, who need the money the most, are the ones that never have it.
—Finley Peter Dunne (1867–1936) American Author, Writer, Humorist
We have not yet reached the goal but.. we shall soon, with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty shall be banished from this nation.
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) 31st American President
Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.
—James Baldwin (1924–87) American Novelist, Social Critic
Who, being loved, is poor?
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Too poor for a bribe, and too proud to importune, he had not the method of making a fortune.
—Thomas Gray (1716–71) English Poet, Book Collector
Poor is the man who does not know his own intrinsic worth and tends to measure everything by relative value. A man of financial wealth who values himself by his financial net worth is poorer than a poor man who values himself by his intrinsic self worth.
—Sidney Madwed (1926–2013) American Poet, Author
He who ashamed of his poverty would be equally proud of his wealth.
—Unknown
For every talent that poverty has stimulated it has blighted a hundred.
—John W. Gardner (1912–2002) American Activist
I am a poor man, but I have this consolation: I am poor by accident, not by design.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
If the rich could hire other people to die for them, the poor could make a wonderful living.
—Yiddish Proverb